itzsoweezee
12-25-2013, 02:09 PM
I don't think I've seen a player less interested in playing defense than James Harden. He'll run through the motions, but will put little effort in running through screens, rotating on defense, etc.
James is the second slowest (http://stats.nba.com/playerTrackingSpeed.html?pageNo=1&rowsPerPage=25&filters=GP*GE*15&sortField=AV_SPD&sortOrder=ASC) player in the league in terms of average speed. All of the other slow guys are centers/power forwards. Further, only David West, Carlos Boozer, and Andrew Bynum move less (http://stats.nba.com/playerTrackingSpeed.html?pageNo=1&rowsPerPage=25&sortField=DIST_48&sortOrder=ASC&filters=GP*GE*20) per 48 minutes.
The Spurs should be going at Harden on every possession, like the Warriors did against San Antonio and Tony Parker in the playoffs last year. Anyway, this is just something to watch for in the game this evening. And with that, I leave you with 75 seconds of James Harden playing "defense."
http://youtu.be/NIyiEc1741s
James is the second slowest (http://stats.nba.com/playerTrackingSpeed.html?pageNo=1&rowsPerPage=25&filters=GP*GE*15&sortField=AV_SPD&sortOrder=ASC) player in the league in terms of average speed. All of the other slow guys are centers/power forwards. Further, only David West, Carlos Boozer, and Andrew Bynum move less (http://stats.nba.com/playerTrackingSpeed.html?pageNo=1&rowsPerPage=25&sortField=DIST_48&sortOrder=ASC&filters=GP*GE*20) per 48 minutes.
The Spurs should be going at Harden on every possession, like the Warriors did against San Antonio and Tony Parker in the playoffs last year. Anyway, this is just something to watch for in the game this evening. And with that, I leave you with 75 seconds of James Harden playing "defense."
http://youtu.be/NIyiEc1741s